David Hoey, Senior Director of Visual Presentation, enchants visitors this season with a multilayered experience to bring each institution to life. “While exploring this theme, we knew the windows had to be dynamic and multilayered to evoke the excitement of New York today, while simultaneously celebrating the city’s past” says Hoey. “Our institutional partners provided an array of subject matter to inspire us, so we crafted a completely different type of window for each organization. And since we love putting on a show, we have made the windows kaleidoscopic and entertaining.” Ten months in production, Hoey and his team of artists and artisans have orchestrated a wondrous spectacle that features a range of media, such as papier-mâché, neon, video, resin casting, and the fiber arts.

In addition to the spectacular windows, the holiday partnership between Bergdorf Goodman and these institutions has yielded one-of-a kind cultural experiences and exclusive gifts (fashion houses and designers such as Loro Piana, Adam Lippes, KITH, Lorraine Schwartz and David Webb have created pieces that will be available for purchase in store and on BG.com), providing customers with the opportunity to give back in a unique way. A percentage of the retail price from each product purchased will be donated to the corresponding institution, while each institution will receive 100% of the proceeds from each experience purchased—through Sunday, December 24.

The special holiday display will be on view along 5th Avenue in both the Women’s and Men’s Stores, and will include windows inspired by the following New York City Cultural Institutions:

WOMEN’S STORE

American Museum of Natural History

In a sparkling, classical setting based on architectural features of the museum’s lobby, a band of bejeweled dinosaurs encircle their ringmaster, mesmerized by her luminous presence.

Museum of the Moving Image

This window, with its eclectic visual references, pays homage to New York City in wintertime, to the history of filmmaking, and to the allure of mid-century Hollywood. A pair of icy film cameras flanks an extravagant Art Deco movie marquee, while a dazzling large-screen montage of black-and-white film clips adds visual motion. Spotlights illuminate the leading lady who awaits her cue.

The New York Botanical Garden

As if in a dream, two gardeners rest in a surreal botanist’s library, amid a proliferation of soft-sculpture plant life. Trees, plants, and flowers have been hand-rendered in a variety of fiber arts by Burke & Pryde Studio, Brooklyn. The Latin nomenclature for the flora is presented in rich multicolored graphics. The effect is at once scholarly and psychedelic.

New York Philharmonic

Standing before an astounding sculptural starburst of red neon musical instruments, a conductor leads her orchestra. The visual tempo accelerates dramatically toward a final flourish, and her audience demands an encore.

New-York Historical Society

With a key to the city in hand, a tour guide presents a trove of New York City historical artifacts, both diminutive and monumental. This ensemble of vivid papier-mâché portraits and sculptures are actually witty reinterpretations of objects from the collection of the New York Historical Society, created specifically for this window by New York artist Mark Gagnon.

UrbanGlass

Four contemporary artists have been commissioned to create signature glass objects, which were fabricated at UrbanGlass in Brooklyn. The works will be on display in a special Bergdorf Goodman Shadowbox window.

MEN’S STORE

Brooklyn Academy of Music

Four window vignettes in the windows of Bergdorf Goodman Men’s Store tribute to some of the art forms associated with historic Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM): music, dance, theater, and film.